A. Scientists Work on the Canine Behavioral Genetics Project
Narrator: This is Science Today. In 2005, scientists completed the dog genome – a detailed map of dog genes. With this wealth of information now available, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco have launched the Canine Behavioral Genetics Project. Dr. Steve Hamilton, a psychiatrist and geneticist, says understanding the genetic background of behavioral disorders in dogs would not only help man's best friend – it could help humans, too.
Hamilton : Many behaviors that the dog has, particularly problem behaviors like anxiety and aggression seem to be similar to that that we see in humans. So, we thought that perhaps the dog would be an interesting place to look to see if genes influence these types of behaviors because many of these behaviors when you see them in dogs also respond to the same sorts of treatments that we use in humans, for instance anti-depressants. Our main hope is that we'll be able to learn from the dog information that will also benefit humans, but we hope that it's a two-way street – that the information we have about the human and our genetics and our mental disorders may also inform us about ways to improve the lives of dogs.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
B.
An Oceanographer Suggests Creating and Underwater National Park
Narrator: This is Science Today. Coral reefs provide several benefits to their surrounding area, but can suffer because of overfishing. Fish are important because they eat the algae which can overgrow on a coral and eventually kill it. Marine ecologist Stuart Sandin of the University of California , San Diego 's Scripps Institution of Oceanography, says that creating underwater protected areas could benefit both the fish and the corals.
Sandin: You can put in a park in certain regions and the fish stocks will grow up in some marine protected areas. A national park underwater and you just don't allow fishing in that area. If you don't allow fishing, then the fish will start to grow back. You have the fish doing their service eating the algae, protecting the algae from overgrowing the corals or fertilizing the bacteria on the corals.
Narrator: Sandin says this type of protection is necessary in allowing coral reefs to recover.
Sandin: Coral reefs have been around for millions of years, they've done very well through huge sea level changes, temperature changes and if there's one thing they have, it's a capacity to recover. One thing we have to give it is the time to recover at this point.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C.
Some Differences Between the Male and Female Brain
Narrator: This is Science Today. The use of sophisticated MRI scanners is giving researchers new insight into the human brain, particularly the differences between male and female brains. For example, Dr. Louann Brizendine, a psychologist at the University of California , San Francisco, says male brains have larger amygdalas, an almond-shaped set of nuclei located deep within the brain.
Brizendine: The amygdala actually is part of the brain that all of us use constantly. We are always monitoring everything in the room, in our space, in our life and everything for something that might be deeply, emotionally meaningful or fear and danger. Males go from zero to sixty fast.
Narrator: In female brains, the hippocampus, which is called the memory area – is larger than in males.
Brizendine: If you jiggle the amygdala intensely, it sends all of these sparks off to the hippocampus to tell it to take a total snapshot of what's going on right then. And that's one reason the female brain remembers all this emotional detail.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
D.
What Some Mothers Should Know about Breastfeeding
Narrator: This is Science Today. Mothers who have been exposed to high levels of a specific class of the toxicant PCBs – known as non-coplanar PCBs – may want to think twice before breastfeeding their infants. A study by University of California, San Francisco has found that rat pups exposed to similar levels of these PCBs in their bloodstream had significant developmental abnormalities.
Merzenich: For very good reason, more and more mothers are nursing their babies. The problem is that these chemicals are concentrated in breast milk at a level of about six-fold in breast milk as they are in the general body tissues because they are concentrated in fat.
Narrator: Neuroscientist Michael Merzenich, the senior author of the study, who has done extensive research on autism, suggests that women with an inherited weakness for developmental disorders may want to think about this possibility before breastfeeding.
Merzenich: So, if your family – or husband – has a history of language impairment or of dyslexia or of autism itself, it would be an indication that there's some reason for concern.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E. Some Health Advice for Occupational Housecleaners
Narrator: This is Science Today. People who clean houses for a living may be at higher risk for chronic breathing problems. Environmental engineering professor William Nazaroff of the University of California, Berkeley found that chemicals called terpenes, which are found in common, scented cleaning products could
take a toll if used too often.
Nazaroff: There is evidence that's emerging in the literature that shows that people who are occupationally employed as house cleaners have a higher incidence of occupational asthma than many other professions.
Narrator: To cut this risk, Nazaroff offers advice to anyone who uses these products everyday on the job.
Nazaroff: Don't use more of the product than necessary to complete the job. Use it in dilute form wherever that's possible. Don't store the cleaning products, the rags and the towels and so forth that have been used in spaces where people will be breathing those fumes again. Take the used products and throw them away once they've been used.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
